


Never Too Busy For You

by HawkyBarton



Series: OTP and Fanfic Brigade (Prompts galore) [87]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bullying, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, EVERYTHING ENDS UP OKAY I SWEAR, Gen, High School AU, Homophobia, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Parent!Avengers, Phil rekts Tony at the end though, Suicide Attempt, Teen!Clint, Teen!Phil, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-17 12:04:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5868736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HawkyBarton/pseuds/HawkyBarton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint Barton is bullied mercilessly at school, but with the Avengers so busy, deals with it by himself</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Too Busy For You

**Author's Note:**

> Anon asked: Teenager Clint is getting bullied and with how busy everyone is is feeling really badly and he starts hurting himself. Mostly it starts with over exerting himself or letting his bow string snap his flesh and he just gets worse. Until everyone finds out?

Clint Barton was adopted by the Avengers (technically it was by Tony Stark, but that’s just semantics) when he was only ten years old. 

They had found him during one of their rare Tony mandated vacations to some dude ranch in Waverly, Iowa. 

Clint had been hiding in one of the barns with the horses, and had every Avenger wrapped around his malnourished finger within minutes. 

Now, almost 6 years later, everything was going better for Clint. 

Or, at least, that’s what the Avengers thought. 

Two years ago, Clint had convinced the Avengers to move him from JARVIS’s home schooling, to a public school. 

It had taken awhile, but they had finally relented in time for his Freshman year in High School. 

Now, here he was in his Sophomore Year, and absolutely miserable. 

Clint loved school and getting to learn in a more social setting, but the kids involved were horrible. 

Clint had been subject to abuse by the hands of his family members for years, and the scars were still there, Clint thought that he would be tough enough to deal with anything.

But he wasn’t.

Not that he could talk to anyone about it. 

The Avengers were very attentive parents usually, but they have had a lot of their plates lately. 

It seemed they were away on one mission or another all the time now, and when they were home, they were all too tired for his troubles. 

So Clint kept all the bullying to himself. 

_I can handle this, I’ve handled worse_ he would think everyday. 

The mantra only went so far.

 

~

“You’re just an uneducated hick” One hissed at him as he passed by in the cafeteria. 

Clint kept his face neutral, knowing that any emotion would only give them pleasure - it was an abuser’s only pleasure.

Clint sat down at his solitary table and pulled out his textbook to study for the quiz in his next class, and wished he had some friends to talk to. 

 

~

Clint came home to an empty tower once again, and sighed. 

“What’s wrong Master Clint?” JARVIS asked. 

Clint just grimaced, “Nothing Jarv… Just a long day at school”

“Alright Master Clint. If you wish to talk, I am here” 

Clint gave a small smile, “Thanks Jarv…. I’ll be in the range, okay?”

“As you wish”

Clint nodded and gathered up his stuff to go to the range for the rest of the afternoon. 

When he grabbed his bow and stepped up to the stand, he felt only a little better. 

Raising his bow, Clint let loose an arrow, and accidentally letting his string snap against his arm. 

Clint hissed slightly and looked down at his arm with an annoyed expression. 

_I deserve this_ came a thought from nowhere. 

Clint blinked and clenched his hand, sending the pain shooting through his body. 

_I definitely deserve this.  
_

With these thoughts circling in his head, Clint continued to shoot. Over and over again, until his whole arm was a mess of blood and his knees were shaking from over exertion.

_You deserved this._ Came his last thought before he stopped for the day.

 

~

This trend continued for weeks, without anyone being the wiser. 

Every time Clint was bullied in school, he came home and bullied himself some more. 

It never got more than letting his bowstring snap his flesh or working out until he could barely breathe, until he met Phil Coulson. 

Clint was sitting alone at his table, minding his own business, when a tray slide down next to him.

His eyes shooting upwards, Clint found himself looking into the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen.

“Sorry,” The boy said with a small smile, “Everywhere else was full”

Gulping Clint just nodded, “N-no problem”

The boy grinned and set his book bag down at his feet, “I just moved here from Wisconsin. My name is Phil”

Clint’s hands clenched on the table, “I uhm… My name’s Clint. I started here last year, but I’m from Iowa”

“Oh cool!”

Clint nodded, not wanting to ruin this budding friendship with his tragic backstory. 

Phil grinned at Clint some more, before starting to eat his lunch. 

Clint watched him for just a moment, before doing the same. 

Several minutes passed. 

“Hey…”

Clint looked up, “Yes?”

Phil blushed, “This is gonna sound stupid… But, uhm… I know there’s a winter formal coming up, and since you seem to be the only person here who has actually talked to me would you-”

“Yes!” Clint said with a blush almost as rosy as Phil’s.

“Oh… Cool….” Phil said with a smile.

Clint nodded, and that was that.

 

~

Clint and Phil became fast friends, with a bond that couldn’t be broken by anybody or anything. 

The Avengers were still barely home, and Clint still had his rituals in the range, but things were a little better now that Phil was there. 

Phil just made things brighter in the world, and Clint was content.

 

~

Clint was walking home from school several weeks later when he was shoved to the ground.

“Oops, sorry fag” A boy said as he passed by Clint on the sidewalk.

Clint kept his head down until the boy’s disappeared from view. 

_Fag…. Fag….  
_

_“God hates fag you little piece of shit”_

Clint shuddered and rolled to his feet. 

_I deserve being pushed… I deserve a punishment…. I deserve **everything  
**_

 

_*********** _

Phil was worried when his new friend Clint didn’t show up the next day to school, or the next few days after that.

Straightening his spine, Phil went to the front office and asked point blank if Clint had moved.

“No dear, but he’s never missed a day of school before…. It’s terribly strange” The receptionist said with a worried expression.

Using this to his advantage (Phil Coulson was always able to make something work to his advantage), his used the kindness of the woman’s heart against her, and got Clint’s address out of her to ‘take his homework to him’.

Boy was he shocked to find that Clint lived in _the_ Avengers tower! The place where his _hero_ , Captain America, lived!

Grabbing up the huge amount of homework Clint needed to do, Phil walked over to the Avengers tower to check on the other boy. 

Stepping into the elevator, Phil marveled at how cool everything looked. 

“Are you here to see Master Clint?” A voice asked with a tinge of worry from above him.

Phil flinched and looked around, “Uh…. Yes? Who are you?”

“I am JARVIS. An artificial intelligence, and I will take you to Master Clint….. Please hurry”

Phil frowned, “Is Clint okay?”

“I’m afraid not….”

Phil clutched the homework tighter to his chest. “Why haven’t you told anyone?”

The AI seemed to sigh. “I have an override code in my settings that forbids me to contact anyone once it is imputed. I am very glad you have shown up here today”

Phil nodded, “Me too…. If it means helping Clint”

The elevator doors opened, “He is in the room to the left.”

Phil nodded to the ceiling and rushed to the door and inside it.

“Clint?” Phil murmured when the door opened. 

Everything was dark and quiet inside. 

Closing the door behind him, Phil set Clint’s homework down and eased further inside. 

“Clint? It’s me, Phil… Your winter formal buddy? Please talk to me….”

A small moaning noise came from the direction of a white doorway.

Rushing towards, Phil tried to open it, but couldn’t.

Taking a deep breath, Phil raised his leg and kicked down the door. 

There, on the ground, was Clint with a empty bottle of pills. 

Crying out, Phil dropped to his knees next to Clint and pulled out his cellphone. 

Punching in the numbers for emergency services, Phil did everything he could to keep Clint safe and okay.

“Come on Clint, I can’t loose you too” Phil muttered sadly as paramedics slammed into the bathroom and loaded Clint up onto a stretcher. 

 

*******

Clint woke up in a hospital bed.

“What?”

_Why am I not dead_

“If you’re wondering why you’re alive, your friend Phil Coulson is to thank for that” Came a low voice next to him.

Turning his head, Clint grimaced when he looked into the face of Steve Rogers. “Hey…”

“Don’t ‘hey’ me young man” Another voice came from his other side.

It was Natasha, looking very angry (which translated to upset and scared).

“What happened Clint?“ Steve said quietly.

“He tried to kill himself, stop asking stupid questions!!” Came Tony’s voice, causing Clint to wince. 

“Tony!!” Several voices chastised at once.

Clint shook his head and slowly sat up in the hospital bed. “But he’s right…”

Several pairs of eyes turned back to look at Clint.

“But…. why?” Bruce asked quietly.

Clint looked down at his hands and clenched them.

“He was being bullied” A calm voice said from the doorway.

Clint looked up to see Phil, a strong presence in a room full of frazzled nerves.

“Is that true Clinton?” Thor asked with a frown.

Sighing, Clint shook his head.

“Oh Clint, why didn’t you tell us?” Natasha whispered.

Clint shrugged, “You guys were busy”

“Busy?! We’re NEVER too busy for you!” Tony burst out.

Clint sniffed, “You’re never home. Didn’t want to bother you”

“Clint…. honey… You can bother us at anytime” Steve said as he reached out to grip Clint’s hand. 

“Seriously, bother us. It’ll give us a chance to stay at home for a little bit. Make Reid and the Fantastic Four pull their weight” Bruce chimed in with a wry smile. 

Clint looked at him, “I’ll try that next time?”

Thor nodded, “You bet you will”

Clint nodded, “Right… Okay…”

Tony sighed in relief, “Well I’m glad that’s over”

“….. Mr. Stark if you think just saying ‘next time i’ll try’ is the equivalence of getting over severe depression and bullying, you’re dumber than you appear” Phil said with a droll expression. 

Clint almost choked on his own spit, while Tony sputtered.

Phil looked at Clint and winked, “I’ll bring by your homework…. then we can make tentative plans for the winter formal?”

Clint looked at Phil and nodded, a very tiny smile on his face. “Yeah… I like the sound of that”

**Author's Note:**

> (( You can prompt me if you wish for other fics, or for any ideas you may have about this fic at [ Hellogoodbye](http://hellogoodbye741.tumblr.com/ask) ))


End file.
